Second up is TAR, an old favorite on Unix/Linux – you add the GZ for the compression – compresses tighter than zip ds store files, use the “-X” option in the command so: zip -r -X archive_name.zip folder_to_compress TAR.GZ – Cross Platform If you want to make a zip without those invisible Mac resource files such as “_MACOSX” or “._Filename” and. To compress zip -r archive_name.zip folder_to_compress ZIP – Cross Platformįirst up is ZIP one of the most commonly used compression techniques used across all platforms Here are some built-in compression applications you can use including zip, tar, gz, bz2, gz and dmg.

A compressed file which contains files and folders is generally referred to as an archive. The default command line application interface in macOS is the Terminal and is stored in /Applications/Utilities.įile and folder compression saves on file size and ensures the contents are captured and delivered or stored as one monolithic file.

Since macOS is based on Unix there are a number of ways to compress files and folders within the filing system using Unix based application code, below are a few options using the Terminal or command line interface (cli).

Zip folder mac